Check Out Health Care, Aarp Told

TAMARAC — You should buy health care like you buy a refrigerator, says Trudi Gramazio. Look around and find the best price.

``Pick up the phone and call several agencies,`` said Gramazio, who works for Lauderdale Health Council Inc., which supplies private nursing for house-bound patients.

Speaking Monday before the American Association of Retired Persons, Gramazio said hospitals will provide lists (of private duty firms) ``and people will only call the first one. Call everyone. Do it like you would buy a refrigerator, shop around,`` she said.

Prices for private duty care range from $6.45 an hour to $8.50 a hour in Broward County, Gramazio said, for part-time work. Live-in care workers can cost up to $60 a day, and the government provides no funding for this service, she said.

Private duty nurses do not administer medication, but provide services such as baths, cooking and housekeeping and possibly some physical therapy.